The darkness wasn't the peaceful sleep Leo had expected. It was a pressurized void, a crushing weight that felt like being submerged in freezing oil. He tried to scream but he had no lungs. He tried to reach out but he had no hands.
Then, a spark.
It wasn't a light but a scent. The sharp, pungent aroma of wild ginger and damp, rotting moss. It was a smell so vivid it acted like a hook, dragging his consciousness out of the abyss.
Breathe, a voice—his own voice, yet deeper—echoed in his mind.
Leo gasped. His lungs burned as if he had swallowed a mouthful of needles. His eyes snapped open and for a moment, he saw stars. Not the distant, cold stars of the New York sky but swirling, rhythmic patterns of violet and gold that seemed to pulse in time with his heartbeat.
"Still breathing, are we? I thought you'd finally done us a favor and kicked the bucket."
The voice was cold, mocking and accompanied by the sudden, sharp sting of a foot connecting with Leo's ribs. The impact sent him sprawling across the dirt.
Leo groaned, clutching his side. His hands felt different—smaller, more skeletal and covered in a layer of grime so thick it felt like a second skin. This wasn't the hospital. This wasn't the street.
He pushed himself up, his head spinning. He was in a clearing. Surrounding him were trees that defied everything he knew about botany. Their trunks were twisted like braided rope and their leaves were wide, flat shards of what looked like translucent jade. The air was thick—heavy with a pressure that made his skin itch.
Leo's head throbbed. Memories—not his own—began to leak into his consciousness like ink in water.
This boy was Jian. He was an D rank cultivator, a "talent" of the Village. But more importantly, he was the best friend and lackey of Liam—Leo's twin brother.
The truth hit Leo like a physical blow. In this world, the heavens had a sick sense of humor. His father and Liam had been reborn here too or perhaps they had always been here. And just like on Earth, they had ended up in the light, while Leo was stuck in the mud.
"You're thirteen now, Leo," Jian spat, crossing his arms. "For how much longer are you going to trouble everyone? First, you "accidentally" burn the Seed Pavilion, then you "lose" the Elder's watering cans. Your brother is at the top of the New Moon rankings and you're down here, acting like a common brat in the dirt. Don't you have any shame?"
Leo looked down at his hands. They were small, scarred and covered in the dark, rich soil of the herb gardens. He wasn't the twenty-four-year-old chef anymore. He was a thirteen-year-old "trash" with a reputation for being a nuisance.
"I asked you a question, you Gutter-Grade waste!" Jian stepped forward, the air around him shimmering with his powers. "Your brother told me to keep an eye on you but honestly? I think the they would be better off if you just stayed in that faint."
Leo stared at Jian. He didn't see a powerful cultivator; he saw the same kind of arrogant bully who used to mock his mother's cheap clothes at the grocery store.
"I'm not trying to trouble anyone," Leo croaked. His voice was high, cracked with puberty and dehydration. "I just... I don't feel well."
"You never feel well when there's work to be done," Jian scoffed. He tossed a heavy, rusted sickle at Leo's feet. "Your father wants the Spirit roots harvested by dusk. If you fail, don't come crying to Liam. He's busy preparing for the upcoming awakening trials. He doesn't have time for a brother who can't even pull weeds properly."
Jian turned on his heel, his silver-trimmed robes fluttering as he walked away toward the more beautiful parts of the sect.
Leo sat in the dirt, the silence of the garden closing in around him. He felt a strange, vibrating energy in the air—the magic that everyone talked about. He reached out to touch a nearby Spirit roots, a plant that looked like a common green onion but glowed with a faint, sickly yellow light.
The moment his fingers brushed the leaf, his "System" exploded.
[Species: Spirit-roots (Grade: -F)] [Status: Over-watered] [Observation: This plant is being grown for its magic but its 'flavor' is dull. It lacks the 'heat' of a true spirit herb.] [Mutation Available: Use 'Cinnabar Dust' and 'Directed Will' to evolve into 'Flaming Ember Root'.]
Leo's breath caught. He wasn't just a trash or a troublemaker maybe.